A VERDICT is expected today in the trial of a Balbriggan man charged with the murder of another man in the town last year.
Evidence concluded yesterday in the trial of Mr Alan Rooney (28), of Curran Park, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, who has denied the murder of Mr David Hammond (24), also of Curran Park, at Pump Lane on April 27th 1996.
The prosecution and defence made closing speeches and then Mr Justice Carney opened his charge to the jury, which he will complete today. The jury will then consider its verdict.
The seven day trial at the Central Criminal Court has heard that David Hammond, nicknamed "Grem", "the Grem" and "Froggy", died from blood loss and an accumulation of blood in his chest due to a single stab wound which penetrated his heart.
Garda notes of statements and interviews with Alan Rooney were read to the court yesterday. Garda witnesses denied Mr Rooney was tricked into making statements by being warned he would be jailed for a long time if he did not make certain admissions.
Det Garda Maurice Downey denied a suggestion by Mr Anthony Sammon SC, defending, that Mr Rooney was given false statements about the Garda investigation into the stabbing, that Mr Rooney was asked to handle knives and told if he did not sign a statement he would go down "the hard way".
Ms Maureen Clark SC, prosecuting, read to the court Garda notes of a statement made and signed by Mr Rooney on April 27th in which he said he "used to do a lot of gear ... cocaine" but had taken none since the previous November and had also cut down on his drinking.
At about 10.30 p.m. the previous night, he had met Mr Hammond. "I want to say I did not leave the house to meet Grem Hammond or to kill him or kill anybody," he said. He said Mr Hammond had "started arguing with me" and he had told him to" leave me alone".
He said in the statement: "He started kicking at me and making swipes at me. I pulled out a knife that I had in my pocket. I always carry a knife because I have been threatened by drug dealers. He kept coming for me. I pushed the knife at him and told him to get the fuck away." He also said: "Even though I want to tell the truth, I really didn't think I hit him very hard with the knife."
Notes of two other interviews and a statement made by Mr Rooney earlier on April 27th were also read to the court. In one interview, Mr Rooney said he had had an argument with Mr Hammond and had "probably" had a knife at the time.
He said in the interview: "We had an argument and I walked away. I take blackouts. Could I do something I can't remember?"
Urging a verdict of murder, Ms Clark said it was an unusual case in which three prosecution witnesses admitted to telling lies to the gardai. The prosecution was contending these witnesses had finally told the truth.
If the jury rejected the three men's evidence, there was other evidence on which they could return a verdict of murder, she said. This included the evidence of a man who had seen Mr Rooney with a knife and the evidence of a man who saw him in the vicinity at the time of the stabbing.
Closing the case for the defence, Mr Sammon said it was a "GUBU case" and his client should be acquitted. He said the jury was being asked to decide "a total mess" of a case which had been contaminated from the start by lies told by three men and the jury could not be sure the "lying" had stopped.